#she has complex emotions about this that she hasnt let herself see yet.

[solidburnreturned]

im gonna talk about! marney and topaz! their characters and relationship and how having pepper changed things for them. this is rly long but it feels good to write it all out

- marney and topaz have a rly complex relationship thats full of support and like...give-and-take. neither has more control over the other. theyre both stubborn in their own ways and strive to please one another thru compromise. their relationship has a lot of hard work behind it their bond is super strong and loving

- topaz is very level headed and relaxed while marney is more of a worrier and feels her emotions a bit more intensely. topaz works as a gardener while marney works in construction. both are pretty large trolls with a good amount of strength, being half giant troll. they spent a while working in the same general areas and flirting by trying to show off their strength to each other before topaz was like “hey do you wanna. hang out” bhjdfksd. they were both around 20-21 when they started dating

- they got married young (24-25 y/o) and lived with each other at the troll tree. they both had wanted kids for a while but marney was too nervous for a really long time to have a baby while they both were still at the troll tree. worried about one or both of them getting eaten and not being there to raise the baby, the trolling pod getting damaged or ripped apart, the baby getting taken, etc. marney has some real demons when it comes to close family members getting taken from her

- topaz managed to convince her after she showed marney this rly secluded, safe little hole in the tree that they thought would be safe from the bergens. they planted their little hair seed and took rly good care of the pod plant! they were both super excited to finally start a little family, even with the grim situation. by that time almost all of their own family had been eaten except for topaz’s brother (who i have not developed at all but he’s eve’s father) so the stress of literally just staying alive was a lot but they wanted to really try and be there for their baby. things were going so well they actually started planning to plant a second (and third) hair seed

- around the 2 months 1 week point (i headcanon that trollings take about 3 months/12 weeks to develop in the pod) the pod had started to turn a really bright red color, which easily attracted the attention of chef. marney and topaz hid and thought their trolling pod was hidden well enough while chef came thru to take more trolls, and they were absolutely horrified when they saw chef rooting around in the knothole in the tree that the trolling pod was in with her fingers trying to grab it. chef just ended up like giving up and moving on to other, more accessible trolls eventually and marney and topaz just had to sit and wait until she left before they could go and check on the pod

- topaz and marney are both So Devastated when they see the pod all smashed and dying. topaz feels guilty for pushing marney to start a family when she was scared and now both their worst fears were just confirmed. theyre torn to pieces and just sit there with the crushed pod crying

- but then!!!! they hear a little baby crying!! inside the pod that they thought was crushed was a tiny babby......very premature, like she doesnt have all her color yet, her ears are crinkled up, hardly any hair, eyes arent even open yet, but shes alive!! and theyre both just completely overjoyed and take her back to their own pod immediately to make sure she’s okay since baby trollings laugh when theyre born, they dont cry (shes fine just scared/upset that she was kicked out of the pod so early lmao)

- marney becomes incredibly protective over baby pepper. topaz is protective too, but marney is next level. that baby is by her side almost 24/7. all wrapped up tight in a little blanket, tucked up in her hair. topaz wants to tell marney to calm down, but she still feels guilty over the entire situation, so she lets marney be a total helicopter parent for a while

- once pepper is at the level of development she shouldve been, marney does relax a tiny bit. pepper is still rly tiny and her ears never quite straightened out (which is why theyre kinda bent in her design) but shes plumped up and got a cute lil afro and marney’s eyes! they both love this happy lil baby to death

- as pepper gets older topaz and marney continue to disagree on parenting styles. topaz wants to let pepper live and learn, let her fall down and learn to pick herself back up, let her learn from experience. marney wants to keep pepper as safe as possible and wants her by marney’s side at all times. she hovers over pepper when shes learning to walk, freaks out if she does normal baby stuff like cough a little when eating or spits up or falls, and has trouble with leaving her alone for any length of time. marney argues that shes keeping their only child safe, while topaz argues that marney is doing the opposite by sheltering pepper

- this disagreement and the bad first experience with raising a trolling pod squashes out any want for more babies, which makes them both sad honestly

- once the troll tree escape happens and they make themselves comfortable in the new village (pepper is around 1-2 years old at this point), marney calms down considerably, feeling that the biggest threat to her family is gone. topaz is really glad to see her wife chill out and they both work together to raise pepper

- pepper’s rebellious years (13-16) are not received well by marney, who can do nothing but worry, but topaz is a little more relaxed about it. she recognizes that pepper is exploring some identities and is reacting to marney’s overprotective parenting. she doesnt let pepper get away with EVERYTHING but shes more lenient and understanding. this really annoys marney who just has the worst feeling that something bad is going to happen to pepper eventually if she keeps up this wild behavior. marney was also not thrilled when pepper got her motorcycle

- cue pepper’s bike crash, and marney is back to being obsessive with keeping her safe. topaz is also back to feeling guilty, feeling like if she had listened to marney and been a little stricter with pepper she wouldnt be in this situation. this is probably the heaviest, roughest part of marney and topaz’s relationship/marriage. it took pepper 1.5 years to recover fully (between the initial bodily trauma, physical therapy, and emotional/mental damage) and it took marney and topaz half of that time to not be so upset with each other, talk things out openly and honestly, and work together to be there for their daughter

- fast forward to the present. pepper hasnt lived with her parents for 4-5 years and is independent. marney and topaz are both proud of her and each other! marney is careful to not be so overbearing anymore, but can slip up and be a total worrier still. topaz does her best to not carry any guilt regarding the emotional toll on marney from pepper’s haphazard pod delivery/crash and the toll the crash took on pepper. she does sometimes wish she was a bit more careful like marney, but figures that together they balance each other out quite well. they have a lot more open communication about their wants/needs/feelings

- marney and topaz live together happily and love each other very much!!! 

#writing this out felt GOOD #trolls #oc #marney #topaz #pepper #txt #i should draw these mamas more